Just the way “yes and no” go hand in hand, “accept and decline” go hand in hand. There is no way that all options will be accepted or all permissions given. There is always a 50 – 50 chance for the pendulum to bend either to a yes/accept or no/decline.

A Decline Letter is written to inform the applicant or reader about the declining of either a job application or loan application or any other request made. The reason for the decline however may differ from each other. Some reasons for decline are:

Job application not meeting expectations set by prospective employer

Insufficient information on loan application form

Poor track record of applicant on any previous application

Suspicious character of applicant

DOS AND DON’T’S OF DECLINE LETTER

A Decline Letter should be written as soon as the decision to decline the application or offer has been taken

Even though a request has been declined for genuine reasons, the letter should not sound insulting or humiliating for the reader

It is the reader’s right to know the reason why the request has been declined, so the Decline Letter must state that reason

The date on the letter must be mentioned so that the reader is aware when was the decision taken/communicated

A Decline Letter is born only after a request has been conceived, so that request must always be referred to in the letter

A Decline Letter should be to the point. A lengthy letter looses its entity and focus

It should preferably be typed for that official effect

No grammatical or punctuation errors are acceptable in the Decline Letter

A Decline Letter should never sound as if all future doors have been closed on the applicant. There should always be scope for a new request later

The letter should always end with a regret to sympathize with the reader

SAMPLE DECLINE LETTER

_______________ (Name and address of reader)

_______________ (Date)

Subject: Request for home loan declined

Dear Sir or Madam

This is in response to your application dated __________ for a home loan.

We regret to inform you that your application has been declined because the upper age limit for home loans is _____ years and as per your application you are _____ years above the limit.

We sincerely apologize for this but hope you understand that these are company policies that cannot be tampered with.